Running is just part of my life. It brings me joy. Everyone has that one thing that just makes them happy. Running is my thing. But today was different. I’ve been running for years, so going for a slow, easy and short little jog isn’t usually a monumental experience, but today it was! Let me start at the beginning. I grew up in a family of runners; my uncle started it by running marathons. Then my brother joined in the madness (that’s what I thought it was then) and not only ran but did very well, winning the silver shoe at the St. George Marathon for the fastest runner from our home county. I remember him training like crazy and I thought he was crazy. My sisters started next, running cross-country and track in high school, and they were fast. I tried to join them one year but was wimpy, inexperienced, and thought I would die. Obviously, I quit without really giving it a try.
Years later when we were first married, my husband Scott and I showed up for our city’s two mile Turkey Trot just prior to Thanksgiving, hoping to win the big turkey. Scott, who is naturally athletic and competitive, joked with my high school cross-country star sisters that this would be easy. He showed up in his basketball shoes and started the race. Scott remembers teasing my sisters that they would have to run a bit faster than they were going to be “fast.” Then he died, feeling silly, out of shape and slightly embarrassed that a bunch of little girls could beat him quite severely.
That’s when Scott joined the crazy and decided running was hard and now wanted to prove what he could do. So he ditched the basketball shoes for his first pair of running shoes. He trained, started running a few 5k’s, and did pretty well, advancing into marathons when he was dared to try one by my crazy running brother (he’s not really crazy, just crazy about running). He trained hard, ran fast and hasn’t looked back, completing 20 full marathons.
For years I was the wife who brought the kids to come cheer for Scott, meeting up with my sisters and their kids to watch our husbands run. Then I was babysitting for my sisters so they could run, too. I finally decided that I didn’t want to be left behind to babysit while everyone went to hang out at races. So slowly and painfully, I started to run.
At first I thought I would pass out (my excuse – I was a mom of four little kids), then it became a little easier and easier and I felt better and happier. I felt like I was missing something on my non-run days. I found that as a runner I had instant friends. Runners like runners and I had fun with this new lifestyle. Signing up for my first marathon was a big deal knowing that this was going to be tricky. Scott and I still had little kids so we had to trade off watching the kids for our long training runs, but we made it work.
Marathon day came, I showed up and it started to rain and it didn’t stop, but neither did I. Twenty six miles in the rain really stinks. I think it’s like that for me, everyone says it never rains on marathon day but of course it did on my first. I survived though, finished, and vowed to never do that again. The next year I didn’t run and I found that I actually missed the training runs, missed the feeling of accomplishment, and missed the rush that comes with running. That year I vowed I wouldn’t miss running the marathon again, until I was just too old and couldn’t run. I’ve completed 9 marathons now, one being the Boston Marathon and yes it was the year of the bomb. Remember the rain? If it happens, it will be to me.
Fast forward to now and why running today is huge. A few months ago I had to have a three level cervical spine fusion. This means I have a metal plate in my neck attached with 8 screws holding my spine together. This provides room for my spinal cord as it was getting severely pinched. It’s a long story but basically my neck was messed up from a car accident back when I was 16 years old. I remember my visit to the surgeon as he explained the procedure and my first question was, “Will I be able to run again?” Luckily he said if all goes well then yes, but not for many months during my recovery time.
So, running today was a big deal. For me, it was a wonderfully big deal. I felt great, I was alive and free. I felt like I could fly. Finally! For years when asked why I ran, I would answer, “Because I can” not knowing how lucky I really was. Now I feel extremely lucky and grateful enough to say that today I really can run. So, why run? Well, why not run?
